Fracas between Leonard and Sizer heats up again

Even though Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard told Mayor-elect Sam Adams this week that he was no longer interested in overseeing the Police Bureau come January, the personal and political unrest between Leonard and Police Chief Rosie Sizer has not cooled.

Not even close.

When he announced his decision to back away from the police commissioner's job on Wednesday, Leonard said one of the reasons was because people in the chief's office had been "leaking" information to reporters about him and his family.

Among other things, Leonard accused someone in the police bureau of posting to the Portland Mercury's blog some information about Leonard's daughter failing to appear in court. The item was posted anonymously.

It's no secret that Leonard's daughter has struggled with drug addiction. He has spoken publicly about it, praising Central City Concern's Recovery Mentor Program for helping her come to grips with her problems.

Leonard said he doesn't usually back down from a fight, but did so because a campaign by the chief and her minions to discredit him had become such a circus, that it was affecting his family.

Police officials have denied the charges. Even before Leonard brought them, they said Sizer was alerted to the blog item and ordered a check of police computers to see if any bureau employee had tried to access information about Leonard's daughter. They found nothing.

Sizer declined to comment today.

Leonard said today he has "no smoking gun" that proves the information came from the police. But he said it fits a pattern, pointing to a blog post by Mercury reporter Amy Ruiz this week that states she and other reporters were given "mud-slinging tips about Leonard that weren't newsworthy."

Leonard told Mayor Tom Potter last month that the chief's office was tipping reporters to ask for copies of his emails in a "back-channel effort" to create media controversy. Reporters regularly ask to see email traffic under Oregon's open public records law.

While the accusations fly from both camps, Potter has asked Sizer to write a report answering Leonard's complaints. The report is expected to be completed early next week, a spokesman for Potter said.